Welcome to the application for the 2025 Trans Possibilities Intensive! To apply, you must be nominated and have received an application code directly from Sundance Institute.
Under the guidance of experienced creative advisors and staff from Sundance Institute’s Equity, Impact, and Belonging Program, the Trans Possibilities Intensive offers a supportive environment for participating artists to develop their creative skills. Artists will receive individualized feedback on their projects, gain career advancement advice, build community, and confront the obstacles that continue to exclude transgender artists.
Eligible artists must identify as being of transgender experience and Black, Indigenous, and/or a person of color, and we strongly encourage artists who also identify as disabled, LGBTQ+, and/or undocumented to apply. Projects should be in the development stage and can be fiction or nonfiction, including features, series, or shorts. The applicant should be the main writer and/or director on the project and should identify as “emerging,” which Sundance Institute defines as yet to complete a long-form or major work in the specific discipline in question.
Two artists will be selected from Minnesota or New York City.
Applications will be reviewed by a diverse panel of readers and Sundance Institute staff.
If you have questions regarding your eligibility or accessibility accommodations, please contact us at inclusion@sundance.org.
The deadline is May 5, 2025, at 3:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. MT/6:30 p.m. ET.
FAQ
1. Who is eligible to apply to the Trans Possibilities Intensive?
Applicants must be of transgender experience.
Applicants must be artists of color.
Applicants must be U.S.-based.
Applicants must be artists at the “emerging” career stage, as defined by the Institute as having not yet released a major or long-form work in their chosen discipline, but have created some body of work (e.g., shorts).
Applicants must be interested primarily in a career in film, though they can work across art forms and positions in the industry.
Applicants can apply with a feature (fiction or nonfiction), short (fiction or nonfiction), or episodic (fiction or nonfiction) work in development to be considered.
Two applicants will be selected from Minnesota or New York City.
2. Can I apply with a Co-Applicant?
- Yes, though only the primary applicant will be selected to participate in the Intensive.
3. What happens after I apply?
Following the close of the application, Sundance Institute staff and external artist advisors will review all applications thoroughly, and all applicants will be notified of decisions by approximately late June.
4. Where will the intensive take place?
- The Trans Possibilities Intensive will be a three-day virtual event held July 28–30, 2025, on Zoom and Sundance Collab. Selected participants will need to be able to “attend” three roughly four- to five-hour-long sessions on all days. Exact hours to be announced.
5. Will my access needs be met?
The Sundance Institute Operations Team and Equity, Impact, and Belonging Program will work with selected artists in the weeks leading up to the event to ensure that access needs for participants are met. If you have questions regarding your eligibility or accessibility accommodations, please contact us at inclusion@sundance.org.
6. Whom do I contact with additional questions?
- Please contact us at inclusion@sundance.org.
7. Why do you need my demographic information?
Inclusion is a core component of Sundance Institute’s values, and we are committed to deepening our service to artists from underrepresented communities and geographic regions. We ask for this information so that we can internally assess our service to these communities. It is solely for our own internal assessments to gauge our success in accordance with our values.
2025 Trans Possibilities Intensive
Welcome to the application for the 2025 Trans Possibilities Intensive! To apply, you must be nominated and have received an application code directly from Sundance Institute.
Under the guidance of experienced creative advisors and staff from Sundance Institute’s Equity, Impact, and Belonging Program, the Trans Possibilities Intensive offers a supportive environment for participating artists to develop their creative skills. Artists will receive individualized feedback on their projects, gain career advancement advice, build community, and confront the obstacles that continue to exclude transgender artists.
Eligible artists must identify as being of transgender experience and Black, Indigenous, and/or a person of color, and we strongly encourage artists who also identify as disabled, LGBTQ+, and/or undocumented to apply. Projects should be in the development stage and can be fiction or nonfiction, including features, series, or shorts. The applicant should be the main writer and/or director on the project and should identify as “emerging,” which Sundance Institute defines as yet to complete a long-form or major work in the specific discipline in question.
Two artists will be selected from Minnesota or New York City.
Applications will be reviewed by a diverse panel of readers and Sundance Institute staff.
If you have questions regarding your eligibility or accessibility accommodations, please contact us at inclusion@sundance.org.
The deadline is May 5, 2025, at 3:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. MT/6:30 p.m. ET.
FAQ
1. Who is eligible to apply to the Trans Possibilities Intensive?
Applicants must be of transgender experience.
Applicants must be artists of color.
Applicants must be U.S.-based.
Applicants must be artists at the “emerging” career stage, as defined by the Institute as having not yet released a major or long-form work in their chosen discipline, but have created some body of work (e.g., shorts).
Applicants must be interested primarily in a career in film, though they can work across art forms and positions in the industry.
Applicants can apply with a feature (fiction or nonfiction), short (fiction or nonfiction), or episodic (fiction or nonfiction) work in development to be considered.
Two applicants will be selected from Minnesota or New York City.
2. Can I apply with a Co-Applicant?
- Yes, though only the primary applicant will be selected to participate in the Intensive.
3. What happens after I apply?
Following the close of the application, Sundance Institute staff and external artist advisors will review all applications thoroughly, and all applicants will be notified of decisions by approximately late June.
4. Where will the intensive take place?
- The Trans Possibilities Intensive will be a three-day virtual event held July 28–30, 2025, on Zoom and Sundance Collab. Selected participants will need to be able to “attend” three roughly four- to five-hour-long sessions on all days. Exact hours to be announced.
5. Will my access needs be met?
The Sundance Institute Operations Team and Equity, Impact, and Belonging Program will work with selected artists in the weeks leading up to the event to ensure that access needs for participants are met. If you have questions regarding your eligibility or accessibility accommodations, please contact us at inclusion@sundance.org.
6. Whom do I contact with additional questions?
- Please contact us at inclusion@sundance.org.
7. Why do you need my demographic information?
Inclusion is a core component of Sundance Institute’s values, and we are committed to deepening our service to artists from underrepresented communities and geographic regions. We ask for this information so that we can internally assess our service to these communities. It is solely for our own internal assessments to gauge our success in accordance with our values.